Pin Categories

School / Universities Lapel Pins

Your School or University has an identity—one that is evidenced by the symbols or emblems that are worn by members at events, gatherings, or celebrations. Some of these are worn to identify members. Some are worn to commemorate an event. Others represent membership in a specific club, fraternity, sorority, etc. More often than not, these proud symbols are worn in the form of a lapel pin. With a school or university custom lapel pin, you can say so much and promote pride and recognition of the school brand.

Custom lapel pins for schools and universities have been around for almost as long as the institutions themselves Lapel pins help identify members, especially at events where numerous members are gathering. As a school or university, a custom lapel pin is a great way to provide identity to your school, membership in clubs, teams or department, or to use as reward for achievement.

Custom lapel pins are used by a wide variety of school and university faculty, staff and student body members:

Not sure where to begin choosing a lapel pin for your school or university? Custom Pins has been in the lapel pin business since 1998, and we’ve helped thousands of schools and universities craft beautiful, timeless pins that benefit their members and their events.

Century Hard Enamel®

This is an elegant and durable pin type, often referred to as Imitation Cloisonné. We always recommend our Century Hard Enamel® process to clients that want the best lapel pin.

For re-creating the look of a true hard enamel “Cloisonné” lapel pin, imitation hard enamel (as it is more commonly known), is the perfect alternative. It has the same highly polished and level surface, is very elegant, durable and unlike Cloisonné, it is available in the whole range of Pantone colors. As in all stamped pins, the metal plating must separate different colors (so they don’t run together when applied) and those colors are always solid, never shaded. No epoxy is ever used on either product. It is considered a better lapel pin process. It is also known to have a more formal and classic look.

Stamped Soft Enamel

The versatile Stamped Soft Enamel process is the most popular, offering brilliant colors with fine metal detailing and high quality finishing that brings out the shape and boldness of your design.

With a stamped soft enamel pin, there are raised and recessed areas. The raised areas are plated and the recessed areas are partially filled with the soft enamel colors. No epoxy is used as a fill in. The result is a pin with a 3D look – it has depth and dimension. Like any stamped pin, the plating separates the colors so they don’t “run” together when fired. The enamel colors are solid and can be matched to any Pantone color number.

Die Struck

The classic design and understated elegance of the Die Struck lapel pin makes it a favorite of corporations and non-profit organizations.

A die struck pin starts out being made the same way that any stamped pin does: your design is stamped directly into metal plating (gold, silver, black nickel, nickel or brass), creating raised and recessed areas. Unlike other stamped pins, with a die struck pin, no enamel colors are added. Instead, the raised areas are polished. The end result is an all metal plated pin with raised and recessed areas and no colors.

Die Cast

Stunning incredibly detailed custom 3-D lapel pins available in any shape you want!

A die cast pin is generally made using only metal plating (gold, silver or nickel). Because it is made using a spin casting machine, we are able to offer pins that have real 3D dimensions. The pins are flat on the back, but the depth and the content of the front and sides allow us to make very different looking pins. Sometimes a design is set up in such a way as to have spots where soft enamel colors could be added although most of the time, no color is added.

Printed Pins

With a printed pin, the image is printed directly onto a metal base, usually stainless steel (silver color) or Brass (gold color). The design is kept exactly the same and there can be unlimited colors. There is no need to modify anything. Printed pins allow more details to show than in stamped pins, so pin sizes can be smaller. Printed pins have a clear, shiny coat of epoxy making the pin face smooth. The design can be made so the base metal shows through in appropriate places.

Cloisonné

Cloisonne lapel pins offer the appearance of fine jewelry, with a high perceived value.

Cloisonne is the oldest enamel process and the colors are basically the same as stained glass. Developed over 6,000 years ago in China. Cloisonné is true hard enamel. The colors are deeper, richer and have translucence that no other pin processes offer. They are made from actual crushed colored glass, used as a paste and applied to the recessed areas of the stamped design.

Real, true cloisonné is an almost lost art form and therefore costs upwards of 75% more, has limited colors available (about 72), and is notable by its irregular finish and translucent colors. It is really only for those who want to make a collector’s pin. The defects (some cracks, irregular enamel fills and some small bubbles) are what make each cloisonné lapel pin unique. Although they are difficult to make, we have the expertise to produce them. They are rare, but very special.

Century Soft Enamel®

If you are interested in a great looking stamped pin as a less expensive alternative to Century Hard Enamel®, we recommend considering Century Soft Enamel®.

The only difference between the two is that the enamel colors are recessed a bit. In other words, they don’t fill the recessed areas caused by stamping the design into metal. The raised areas are plated and polished. Then the recessed colors are coated with a thin layer of epoxy, simulating the smooth finish of a Century Hard Enamel® pin. The result is a pin that looks very close, but with a shiny face.

Like any stamped pin, the plating separates the colors, they are solid and can be matched to any Pantone color number.